A Week of World Records

“You don’t get quit skydiving because you get old. You get old because you quit skydiving!” – Bill Wood

Starting last weekend, the Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS),  the Women Skydiver’s Over Sixty (WSOS), and the Jumpers Over Seventy (JOS) came in full force for an incredible week of skydiving here at Skydive Perris. Seven World Records were claimed over the week as a result, and organizer Carol Jones recalled the week as, “a celebration of being in the sport [at this age], being competitive with your peers to achieve a common goal, and jump at a high intensity level.”

Although there were many light-hearted jokes as, ‘old farts rule,’ or ‘geezers rock,’ their skydiving was serious and focused. The format is an open invitation to anyone that fits the criteria to attend: meets the age requirement, and has the skill set necessary. A few warm up jumps take place for the organizers to determine the ‘team’ that would make up the world record attempts. Each world record attempt is guided by a set of rules such as: declaring the predetermined formations,  and following sequential record guidelines (if applicable). The incredible weather helped for a successful week and since an incredible amount of records came out of it, here’s a list of their success:

Jumpers Over 70

24-Way Largest Formation [previous record was a 20-way set in 2013 in Florida]

WSOS

10-Way, 3-Points Sequential Record
11-Way, 2-Points Sequential Record
12-Way, 2-Points Sequential Record

SOS

65-Way Largest Formation [previous record was a 60-Way in 2012 in California]
60-Way 2-Point Sequential Record

To boot, Valerie Estabrook and John Mignanelli did a 30 pt. 2 way which also qualifies as a World Record, making it the 7th World Record in a week!

Organizer Carol Jones explained part of their success in that the SOS has a World Class coach for the bench team so they can stay warmed up and continue to improve to possibly be considered a person to rotate onto the world record team. It also gives a more positive sense of camaraderie and everyone continues to learn. Carol herself is also a seasoned jumper with over 2,500 skydives and started her SOS journey by joining her husband Bill many years ago helping out on practice jumps. It evolved to becoming the bench team coach and eventually organizing the world record attempts with her husband.

The event plans to return back to Perris in April 2018. If you want to learn more click HERE.